Stitches and Stripes: KakuKuzu
by BountyKitten
Summary: This story is a romance with Akatsuki member Kakuzu and my persona. Akatsuki C Kishi-baka. Story/Ivy C Kakuzu1221
1. Synopsis

_My name is Ivy Monterro._

_I wear dark purple lipstick and I enjoy drawing and eating._

_I'm young. I don't know much about life, or even about myself. I can't tell you about history, or math, or science. I can't tell you about religion or politics._

_But I can tell you about love._

_Love._

_The first time I fell in love was the last time I fell in love._

_Being in love with someone and spending time with them shows you their true colors, and where their true motives lie._

_Roses have thorns. Remember that._

_My love for him was tested every day, and his for me._

_Nothing is as difficult as loving. Loving another is the greatest risk you can take- the fear of losing said lover, or the fear of said lover leaving you, etcetera._

_But there are things that make every risk worth taking._

_The warmth of their body against yours, their adoration of everything you do, their acceptance of the true you, their desire to protect you with their lives…._

_My first love was with someone who did not exist in my world._

_He was a presence in my mind, a star that I wished upon. I knew we could never meet- I knew that our worlds simply would not allow it._

_But like I say, I don't know much._


	2. Chapter 1: Drowsy

**BOOK I**

**.IVY.**

"**A Modern Myth"**

**Chapter I – Drowsy**

HOME

I rubbed my eyes wearily as I rolled out of bed, not having slept at all. I slowly put on my clothes- black and purple _Skelanimals_ skinny jeans with chains, a long-sleeve black fishnet shirt with a fitted black wife-beater over it (so as not to expose anything), a neon purple _Slipknot_ hoodie, and old, drawn-on, gray _Converse_ lo-tops.

My ears were still ringing from the Slipknot concert the pervious night, and my throat hurt from screaming so much.

I yawned lazily and scratched my head; something I do when I'm in thought. I was in the mosh-pit, inches away from one of my favorite bands, with my best friend Selina.

I slowly put on my makeup, consisting of black eyeliner and bright purple shadow and dark purple lipstick. Since I'm already as white as a ghost, face paler is not necessary. As I slightly teased my espresso hair, I was thinking about nothing in particular: Slipknot, what the day was going to be like today, etcetera.

I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror: I had, once again, successfully hidden the bags under my eyes; courtesy of genetics, I am insomniac. I don't sleep. Mum has to give me sleeping pills in order to force me to sleep, but I didn't bother taking one last night, since I would be up all night thinking about the concert anyway.

I grabbed my newly washed PE clothes and shoved them in my school bag: a hot pink Andy Warhol tote with the picture of two cars colliding and a traffic sign reading "DEAD STOP." On the straps was a quote by Warhol reading "Sometimes I have to break things to remind me of just how fragile life is."

For what seemed like the one-hundredth time this morning, I sighed as I shoved my overstuffed sketchbook, my Algebra textbook, and a few volumes of the latest _Naruto: Shippuden_ into my bag. I was very excited that the time-skip had finally come to the Americas.

The newest ones had my favorite character, Kakuzu, in it. I had come to possess every volume of_ Naruto, Hana-Kimi, FullMetal Alchemist, Death Note, One Piece, Gunslinger Girl, InuYasha, and Yu-Gi-Oh!_. I also have an extensive collection of DVDs, plushies, soundtracks, and more from the above anime.

Being a sophomore in high school, I can safely assure you that high school IS as difficult as everyone says it is. Academically, I have a lot more trouble this year; Anyone who takes AP courses can sympathize. Socially, I'm a very shy person, but I've managed to make quite a few friends, along with the ones I already had. So, in general, I'm pretty happy with my life.

I snapped out of my thoughts once again and realized that it was already about 6:50AM, so I brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag, and after locking my front door and turning on my _iPod_, I began my journey to school.


	3. Chapter 2: Delta

**Chapter II - Delta**

SCHOOL

I have Architectural Engineering 1st period. It's a pretty interesting class: all we do is design houses on the computer, sketch them out, and model them with various and sundry materials, from wood planks to toothpicks.

Our teacher is pretty laid back; he's a middle-aged guy who has a good sense of humor. He allows us to eat, and do whatever else we want. Since my friend and I had finished our project, we had the next long while for free time, which we spent reading manga, talking, drawing and listening to my iPod. I was updating my Photobucket when Inai turned to me.

"Hey, Ivy," I didn't take my lazy eyes off of the computer monitor, but I murmured "Hmm, Inai?"

"Wouldn't it be cool to travel inside a manga? I mean, have there be some kind of other world that you could travel to at will..." I thought about joining Akatsuki and meeting all of my favorite characters: Sasori, Deidara, Tobi, Hidan, Itachi, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Kisame, Konan, Pein... I sighed.

"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to be able to just get away sometimes..." I trailed off. At that precise moment, a masked man ran into the classroom and pointed a gun at me. He turned to the teacher.

"Nobody move, or the girl dies!" Inai gasped, but didn't move. I stayed still until my luck failed me and I sneezed. The man fired the shot that would have killed me- the bullet raced toward my head, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I waited for blackness, but it never came.

I opened my eyes and saw the man dead, on the floor. I looked around at my classmates and teacher, who all looked stunned.

Without a word, Inai pointed to my neck: a pendant hung loosely from a strand of beads. It was pulsating and glowing very softly. I lifted the pendant up and looked at it closely.

The chain was a little bit longer than the chain that held my brass-knuckle charm, which went just above my breasts. I was staring at it blankly when I realized that I had seen that pendant somewhere before, but where I had seen it was beyond me.

As I was staring off into space, Inai was on my Photobucket. She shook me back into reality and pointed to a picture of Hidan- and his Jashin rosary! Inai was silent and my eyes widened; we both looked at the pendant.

Inai's brown eyes widened and she whispered, "Did you have that on before, 'cause I don't think you did..." I looked down at it and fingered it slowly, shaking my head. I know for sure that I didn't have Hidan's Jashin rosary and even if I did, it would be a cheap cosplay replica. This one felt like it was made of black jade and ivory, which is not something you'd find on eBay very easily.

Not to mention it wouldn't be glowing and pulsating like it is right now. I looked around the classroom; the students were talking about what had just happened, and pointed to Inai and me a few times. I just went back to the computer and continued to update my Photobucket.

I noticed that the teacher was on the phone, and a few minutes later the school police officer and the principal came into the classroom, and my teacher told me to go with them, so I obeyed. They also motioned for Inai, so the two of us logged off of our computers and grabbed our stuff.

We walked in silence to the principal's office. I wasn't worried about this little meeting; they were just going to ask us if we were okay, and other things like that. I was determined to not mention Hidan-san's rosary, and thankfully, I didn't have to worry about Inai saying anything about it either.

We finally got to the principal's office and they made us sit down and they asked us the questions I knew they were going to ask us. We told them about everything minus the rosary, and before we knew it, we were back in class. We got a few more minutes of free time before the bell rang. The two of us sighed and parted ways.

As Inai walked off to her next class, she told me to text her if something good happens. I nodded and walked over to Algebra, my least favorite class of the day.

As I sat down, I cursed to myself as the girl I sit next to came in. _She never shuts up_, I thought in disgust. I was trying to read the problems that were before me, but she made it impossible. I sighed as I tried my best to ignore her.

2nd period was finally over, so I slowly walked to PE. I hated PE as a class, but it was the class that I had the most friends in. I walked into the girls' locker room and unlocked my locker, fishing my PE clothes out of my bag.

I stripped off my clothes and replaced them with the boring school uniform. I shoved my bag and my street clothes into my locker and locked them up. By that time, my friend Alyssa was done dressing and the two of us exited the locker room to meet our other friends.

As usual, my friend Daniil jogged up to us and put his arm round my neck in a brotherly fashion and swayed round violently. "Hey, how's my favorite lady?" I giggled at his roughhousing and nicknames. I swayed with him and punched his arm playfully.

"Get off me!" He shook his head in order to move his long, thick brown-black hair out of his eyes and laughed.

"Ouch, harsh, Ivy! Rejected!" I laughed. Daniil could always make me smile. We walked over to talk to Alyssa, Rex, and Jesus. The three of them were talking and laughing casually, waiting for class to start. Rex looked over to me with his big brown eyes that were filled with nothing, as always. He talks and laughs, but whenever he's not doing that, he seems so empty.

We talked about nothing until our PE teacher came to where we meet and took attendance. We all sat in silence while he did so; we were in ABC order, and whenever they do that, it seems as though no one has a friend near them. When the teacher is done with attendance, we have to jog two laps around the seemingly endless track.

After everyone is finished with the grueling warm up, we go to soccer. The greatest types of friends, in my opinion, are the kinds that can take something totally loatheable and turn it into the most fun thing that ever was.

Rex tried to stand on the soccer ball, and it flew out from underneath him like he was in a cartoon. We all laughed, Rex turning a bright red. We all tried; Alyssa even jumped on Daniil's back and the two of them tried to balance, but to no avail. The period flew by, and it was time to depart for the locker rooms.

As I walked back into the locker rooms, I remember Hidan's rosary. As I get to my locker and open it, a small piece of paper falls out. I raise my eyebrows, thinking someone played a trick on me. I stuffed the note in my pocket to read later as I put the rosary back on without a word.


	4. Chapter 3: Voices

**Chapter III - Voices**

SCHOOL

Back in our street clothes, Alyssa and I walked out to meet Rex, Jesus and Daniil. We talked about the period for a few minutes, then split up and went to our next classes.

Alyssa and I had English together, and because our teacher doesn't care about much of anything, we could choose where we sit, so the two of us sit together. We take our seats by our friends in this class, Chris and Alex. The four of us occupy a table in the corner of the room, which isn't bad, because sitting in the middle of the room isn't all that good.

We sit through a boring lecture that our teacher dishes out every Monday. We doodle, copy each other's notes, and pass notes, usually. Chris jumps up as the bell rings. Chris is a whopping 6'3"; he has a lanky build, with long untamed brown hair. He can usually be found listening to Slipknot. Chris is also Rex's brother.

As I walked to lunch alone, I felt a migraine coming on. I sighed and rubbed my temples. As I sat down at our small planter in the middle of our school's quad, I pulled out my small lunch box. I opened it slowly, squeezing my eyes shut as the sun's rays reflected off of my tin lunch box. I winced as I felt my head pound as bright images of circles and triangles took over my vision.

I felt dizzy for a few minutes, but it eventually passed. I sighed and went to pull my cell phone out of my pocket when that piece of paper fell out. I looked down at it, and since none of my friends had arrived yet, I opened it quickly and read it. As I read it, I couldn't help but hear someone's voice... another familiar voice... It was deep in pitch, and it was calm. It reminded me of...

"You're obviously a magnet for misfortune. First you were almost shot, and now a migraine? You seem to have those migraines a lot. That's not normal for a fifteen year old. Hurry home. Hidan misses his rosary, and will not shut his mouth."

I scoffed. _Well, assuming that this isn't a joke, then this note came from Itachi, no doubt. That empty tone is hard to miss._ I shoved the note into my pocket again, and decided that this had gone way too far to be just some prank.

The rosary, the note... there's no way that could have been staged. Thankfully, I sort of knew how to read Hiragana and Katakana, and luckily, Itachi-san's was flawless. As if someone was controlling it, my friends all showed up as soon as I put the note away.

My best friend Selina and I talked about Slipknot last night, and about our days. I ate my orange chicken and Pringles slowly; that migraine was killing me, and now it was trying to convince me that I had no appetite.

Nothing, and I mean _nothing_, gets between my appetite and me. I growled mentally and shoved my food down my throat, cleaned up my tin and put it back into my bag. I sighed and patted my stomach. It growled very loudly and I heard a hoarse chuckle.

_Kisame-san_?


	5. Chapter 4: Nerves

**Chapter IV - Nerves**

SCHOOL

I blinked in confusion and looked around. As if I would see a 7-foot tall shark-man anywhere. I mentally slapped myself and continued mingling with my friends, and before we all knew it, lunch was over. I trudged to Physics, my (seriously) least favorite class of the day.

I got out my stuff and sat through another boring lecture, doodling a mindless comic of Deidara blowing bubble gum with the mouths on his chest and hands and the mouth on his face, of course. I heard a scoff, then a muffled "Not funny, un..." My worst nightmare snapped me back into reality.

"Ivy? Please come to the board and tell us the formula for Kinetic Energy." I gulped. As I walked slowly from the back of the class to the board, I could feel all eyes on me, making my pale flesh turn a hot pink. I heard a gentle chuckle and a reassuring voice.

"Don't worry, I'll help you through this, just stay calm. You know this." I found myself being reassured by this voice, and sure enough, I had solved the problem. The teacher said that I did a good job and let me sit back down. I sighed in relief. _Thank you..._

I thought, sort of hoping it would reach Sasori-san. I saw lazy red eyes blink slowly and nod. I slouch in my seat and continue to doodle. As if I temporarily forgot about the voices in my head, I drew a chibi of a mask-less Kakuzu hugging a chibi version of me, both of us blushing.

I heard snickers, and heat rose to my cheeks as I hastily erased the doodle. Their snickers died out, and I regained my composure. The bell rang to go to last period: Nihongo 1-2. It was an easy walk down the corridor, and I was there in a matter of seconds.

I sat down in my assigned seat and got out my stuff. Since I was one of the first ones in the class, I took out my sketchbook, block eraser and pencil. I opened up the tattered notebook to the most recent drawing. I sigh and stare at it: It had all of the Akatsuki with 1/2 of a face each.

Hidan's face was matched to Kakuzu's, and so on. I thought it looked pretty good. As I finished the shadowing, I switched to one I had started this morning; it was a chibi of me in an Akatsuki-print nightgown, fast asleep with the rest of Akatsuki as plushies.

I was cuddling to a stuffed Kakuzu. Again the snickers flooded my mind. I heard Kisame's voice, "So, who's your favorite again?" He joked. I blushed a deeper crimson than I had before, but since it was in my sketchbook, I didn't erase it.

I heard Hidan's cackling; "Kakuzu is your favorite?! _Kakuzu_?!" I slouched in my seat as though they were all right in front of me. I felt so stupid until I heard a voice I hadn't heard today. It was raspy, but reassuring, and of melodic, in an evil sort of way. It was Zetsu's.

"Shut up, the lot of you. Leave the little one alone. She's had a rough day; almost being shot, having a nasty migraine, discovering voices in her head..." He trailed off. I nodded a little, as though agreeing with him. He snickered, "And besides, Hidan, you're just angry that she likes Kakuzu more than she likes you."

I giggled softly. _Domo arigato, Zetsu-san! _He chuckled softly, as if to say that it wasn't a problem.

Finally, after learning parts of the body (which proves to be very difficult when it's a class full of obnoxious, immature freshmen who are all laughing because the word for "mouth" is "kuchi"), it was time to get ready to go. I sighed in relief and started to walk home.


	6. Chapter 5: Anxiety

**Chapter V – Anxiety**

HOME

I hurried home as Itachi instructed me earlier in the day. I unlocked the door to my house, went in, and then locked it again. "Hello? Mum? Dad?" I called. _They must be working..._ I took a quick look around the house; _Upstairs, out back, study, bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen..._ I sighed and was tired of looking for them. I went to open the fridge and saw a hot pink post-it stuck onto the door.

"I went to lunch with Susan, and Dad is still at work. Won't be home for a few hours. There's chicken strips in the fridge, enjoy. Love, Mum."

_What's with the notes today, hmm?_ I opened the fridge and got out the chicken and ranch dressing, then headed to my room. I turned the computer on, and put my stuff down next to the hard drive. I walked over to my black-throated monitor lizard's tank.

"Hello, Oliver (named after _Bring Me the Horizon_ vocalist Oliver Sykes)... how are you this afternoon?" The 3.5-foot lizard looked up at me expectantly. I picked him up, and I heard him groan. I frowned at his weight.

"No more giant rats for you..." I murmured. Oliver flicked his tongue out. I placed him in his floor pen, and he walked around, inspecting his little estate. I sighed.

"Wow, big lizard." I panicked and whirled around. My lizard's belly was puffed out and he was hissing, telling me that there was definitely someone in the room. My eyes widened and I gasped as I found myself looking at Kisame. He was crouched next to the tank, examining my lizard.

Oliver took in my facial expression and crouched way low, and sprung at Kisame with unreal speed. Kisame gasped and retreated to the other side of the room with equal speed.

"Oli!" He looked at me, his guard still up. I slid my toe across my wood floor until it was pointing at his pen, and with a final hiss in Kisame's direction, Oliver trotted back into his enclosure, still keeping an eye on Kisame. Kisame raised his hands.

"Chill, scales. I'm not here to hurt her." He gestured at me. I gulped.

"So... I'm not crazy...? I mean, you're really here, aren't you?" Kisame chuckled.

"Yes ma'am, I am. And you're not crazy, so don't worry about that." I nodded, desperately trying to take it all in. My room suddenly embarrassed me; it was clean, but all of my geeky anime things were out, including...

"Aww, I didn't know I could be so cute!" In a flash, he was sitting on my bed, giggling as he looked at my Akatsuki plushies that were neatly lined up on my bed. He smiled a toothy smile.

"Wow, you have all of us, even Pein-sama and Konan-san! You're quite the collector." I blushed at his praise. He chuckled.

"What a cutie you are, having all these plushies and things..." He gestured to all of my stuff. He didn't say it in a flirty sort of way, he said it in a fatherly sort of way, and it comforted me greatly. I mumbled to myself,

"... You don't have Samehada..." He looked up and patted his back where the giant sword would be.

"You're right. Isn't that proof enough that I come in peace?" I smiled a little and nodded slightly. I sighed and went over to my bed and sat down Indian-style, across from Kisame.

"So, why did Pein-sama send you, Kisame-san?" He shrugged.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. My guess is it's because of that quickly-developing telepathy of yours." He gently bumped his fist against my forehead, making me scowl. I looked up at my forehead in confusion.

"Telepathy? Psyche? Me?" I couldn't form a legitimate sentence. Kisame shrugged.

"It confuses me too, my dear, but don't worry, you'll just meet with Pein-sama and-" I cut him off.

"Wait, I get to meet Pein-sama?!" The shark man chuckled.

"You get to meet everyone- Deidara, Konan, Zetsu, Tobi, Hidan, Itachi, Sasori," he smirked. "And Kakuzu-san, of course." I blushed and stuck my tongue out at him. He smiled a toothy smile and chuckled.

"Ah, such a child at heart, aren't you, little one?" I scowled.

"I'm not little! I'm 5'8"!" Without a word, still smiling, Kisame-san stood up and towered over me. I looked up at him and murmured, "You're just really tall! 6'5" is not average!" He laughed.

"I suppose you're right." He stayed standing, and fixed his attention on Oliver. "May I borrow your master for a while?" My scaly beast growled in a low tone, voicing his disapproval. I sighed and scratched my head.

Walking over to his pen, I lifted my scaly beast up and into my arms, and he happily complied by burying his massive snout into my neck, seeking warmth in my soft skin. I held him close for a few seconds, assuring him that Kisame would keep me safe.

I hoped that wishful thinking wasn't making me a liar.


	7. Chapter 6: Entrance

**Chapter VI - Entrance**

HOME

Oliver growled and flicked his tongue against my neck, telling me that he didn't like Kisame very much. I smiled a little, stroking the massive lizard's neck, assuring him once again that Kisame was not going to hurt me.

Reptilian eyes narrowed, showing that his guard was still up, but he relaxed a little, wiggling in my arms restlessly. I gave him another rat and put him back in his pen, turning towards Kisame.

Kisame started walking towards my small room addition, my art room. It was in there that I kept all of my painting, drawing, and sculpting things. I was more confused than I was before. "So, Kisame-san? How did you get in here?"

"Through there." He pointed to my little art room. He sighed.

"Pein-sama will explain everything a lot better than I will, so don't let me confuse you." I suddenly realized something.

"What if my Mum comes home and sees that I'm not here? She'll freak out!" Kisame shook his head.

"You don't have to worry about that; if she does come home early, we will make sure that you have plenty of time to be back here before she is." That greatly relaxed me. My heart was now just pounding out of excitement. Kisame seemed to notice and looked down at me with concern.

"You look nervous, are you okay, little one?" I nodded. "I'm just so excited, I mean, I just met my favorite Akatsuki member! I-"

"Wait, I thought Kakuzu was your favorite."

"But I saw you first though. The whole reason I grew fond of Akatsuki because you were the first one I saw, and I thought you were the coolest thing since... I don't know. You've been my favorite ever since the beginning! So I'd say that you and Kakuzu-san are tied!" He smiled.

"Really?" I nodded.

"Mhmm!" That seemed to make him genuinely happy.

"But you don't have a crush on me, correct? Just Kakuzu?" I nodded, not paying attention to the "just Kakuzu" part. He snickered, and I realized my mistake.

"No, Kisame! I didn't mean that!" He shrugged, still chuckling softly.

"My lips are sealed, little one." I sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no point in arguing further. I felt like I should trust Kisame, so I did.

We entered my little art room and I looked around. I was embarrassed at how messy it was. There were supplies strewn about; the very tiny sink was full of soaking paint brushes, and various sketch books, journals, magazines and other reading materials covered nearly every table, all of them open to marked pages. I blushed at the sight of it all.

"God, I left this place looking like a Hell-hole..." Kisame shrugged.

"I didn't really notice; I've seen much worse, like our art studio. Deidara and Sasori make really big messes..." I laughed a little, my nervousness still chewing up my insides. Kisame walked up to my easel and turned to me. A blank canvas rested on it.

I was even more puzzled than I was before. Kisame sensed my confusion and gestured to a black marker. I handed a Sharpie to him and he swiftly drew an Akatsuki cloud on the canvas.

The outline glowed, and eventually the glow ate up the inside of the cloud. I looked through it and discovered that I was viewing the outside of the Akatsuki's base. I gasped quietly and turned to Kisame. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Kisame eyed me.

"If I draw an Akatsuki symbol, I can use my chakra to create a portal to our world. You can do the same."

"But I don't have-"

"Pein-sama will take care of you, little one." He smiled a toothy smile, as though to reassure me. He stepped aside from the portal and gestured for me to go through it.

"Ladies first." I nodded slowly, and Kisame put a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry child, I'll be right behind you." Without another thought towards it, I jumped through the portal.


	8. Chapter 7: Initiation

**Chapter VII - Initiation**

AKATSUKI BASE

As the blinding light ceased, I found myself in Pein's office. Pein was sitting in a beautiful, tall-backed wooden armchair that had a carving of an angel on one side and a demon on the other. The seat was lined with black velvet, adding to the elegance of it.

Before him was a large wooden desk that matched the chair. He looked up at me and I flinched, backing into Kisame's chest so I could hear his ever-steady heart beat (because his chest is about even with my ear). Pein's Rinnengan was more detailed than it looked in the manga.

His purple-tinted eyes were like whirlpools; they captivated me without any technique needed on his part. His eyes did not leave mine, and he said emotionlessly, "Kisame-san, you are dismissed."

I glanced at Kisame, who was my security blanket until this point, when I realized that he was leaving. I knew he would obey Pein's wishes over mine, but I wanted to reach out to him and beg him to come back. I heard the giant doors of the office open and close, leaving me alone with Pein.

I turned back to him, my eyes met his again, and my heart was racing a million miles a minute. Pein motioned for me to come up to his desk, and it took a lot of energy for me to walk the whole two feet; my legs were like lead. He got up and walked up to me. He extended his hand, and I stared at it, not quite sure what to do.

He gave me a strange look and murmured, "Hmm, not one for introductions, Ivy-san? My apologies." He bowed to me, and I was still in a state of shock, but this time, I managed to make my body move enough to bow extremely low.

"P-Pein-sama, I'm sorry to have been so unresponsive a few minutes ago; i-it's just that, well, I never thought I'd, I mean, I never thought that you would ever be here… well, of course you'd be here, because this is your base… err, what I mean is-" I was cut off by a scoff and a slight chuckle.

"Well, it seems Kisame -san was right. You are an interesting one, aren't you?" My reluctant eyes crossed his intense, analytical stare. I looked up at him. If I were to guess, he's about 5'10", hair not included.

"Chakuseki, Ivy-san." He motioned to a chair that was facing his on the other side of the long table. I obeyed and sat down. He laced his fingers together and leaned over the table.

"So I've heard that you've been having migraines?" I nod, fully aware that he is still staring at me intently with those strange eyes of his. For some reason, I didn't have that much trouble talking to him now.

"Yeah, I've always had them, for as long as I can remember. But over the years, they've gotten more and more intense..." He nodded, as though taking that information in.

"Well, as Kisame-san said earlier, you are developing telekinetic powers." My eyes widened, but I didn't interrupt him. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a long syringe and a bottle of pills. I gulped at the size of the needle. Pein noticed my uneasiness and explained.

"In order to travel to our world, you must use chakra. This syringe will inject chakra into your system, and the pills will stabilize and strengthen it. The syringe is taken only once, but you must take one pill at the start of each day. Is that okay?" I nodded, and Pein stood up.

"Well, I do not believe that there is much more to say, so I will leave you with your temporary caretaker. I will leave you in his care."

"Wait, hold the phone, are you asking me to join Akatsuki?!" Pein nodded, an amused smirk not leaving his face. I was so excited I was bursting at the seams.

"But, how did you know that I even _wanted_ to join you, Pein-sama? And wouldn't I just be dead weight? I mean, my telepathy thingy isn't strong at all!" I guess I looked confused, and Pein smirked. He shook his head as if to disagree with my statement.

"Dead weight? Not at all. It's like buying an old house and fixing it up to be something of greater value than anything else in the neighborhood." He allowed himself a very small smile; the simple gesture told me that even the so-called "heartless" leader of the infamous Akatsuki had feelings.

"And in regard to your other question, Ivy-san, you'd be surprised as to how much one can find out about someone by crawling around through their mind." At that moment, the office door opened. Pein smirked.

"I hope you and your escort have fun..." He swiftly picked up that chakra pills and syringe and tossed it to the door. The silhouette easily caught the supplies and Pein motioned for me to follow the shadow. I was wondering why he hadn't gotten rid of that smirk yet, and as the silhouette became clear to me, I knew.


	9. Chapter 8: Him

**Chapter VIII - Him**

KAKUZU

I looked into his neon green eyes, and he looked into my steel blue ones. At that moment, I wanted to know just how much of the day and my thoughts that he knew about. I did my best to hide my blush and keep my composure. He was wearing his mask, so I couldn't see any sign of a facial expression. He turned out of the room without a word and I followed him. I always thought I had pretty long legs, but I had to jog to keep pace with Kakuzu.

He seemed to notice this and slowed down, so I was able to fall into step with him. That secretly pleased me. I could feel the warmth of his body radiating off of him. It sent chills down my spine, and caused me to slightly shudder. Heat rose to my cheeks. I looked up at him, and I thought I saw him staring at me, but then I realized, _Why would anyone be staring at me?_

Walking beside him, I had a chance to stare at him. My eyes ran over his tanned skin, taking in every muscle that my eyes could find. My heart raced faster at the sight of his flawless body. The stitches that were placed around his body added to the flawlessness.

As we continued down the hall in silence, we finally reached our destination. Kakuzu opened the door and stepped aside so that I could enter first. The room was all white, with a few hospital beds and all kinds of medical equipment. It looked like a hospital; very clean, very sterile, very scary. The room was cold, causing me to get goose bumps.

I continued to observe the room and muttered, "So... about that needle..." When I got no response, I looked around and found Kakuzu across the room, sitting at a desk, readying the needle. I gulped nervously and walked up to the desk. I watched him do his thing until he looked up at me. My heart started pounding again, and he motioned for me to come closer. I did so, and he gently took my wrist and pressed down on it with his thumb.

He was measuring my pulse at the worst possible time.

His eyes widened for a moment, then he asked "Am I that scary?" I didn't know what to say. I thought I sensed a hint of sadness in his voice, but I ignored the thought. I shook my head, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Then why is your heart beating so fast?" I turned a dark crimson as his thumb stayed on my wrist, but the rest of his hand was holding mine. I was awed at how perfectly my tiny, weak hand fit inside his big, strong one.

Whether he did that subconsciously or not, I don't know, but my face flushed and I blurted out: "Why do you wear a mask?"

Kakuzu was visibly taken aback by that, and then murmured cautiously, "Why not?"

"Because you look better without it!" I looked away after my little outburst, refusing to meet his eyes. After a few minutes of silence, a hesitant hand gently grasped my hand.

I watched my hand dumbly as it reached under Kakuzu's mask, brushing his warm cheek (was he blushing, or is he just always so warm?) and pulled the mask off. While doing so, my fingers laced in his soft, shaggy black hair for only an instant. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack.

He held my hand closed around the mask, and he stood up. I looked at him confused, and he gestured to my arm. I looked at it, and to my shock, my arm was bound where the needle was injected. He threw the syringe away, and as he sat back down in front of me, I murmured in wonder, "How did you do that?" Kakuzu looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"You're easily distracted." I blushed, still fingering his mask. He looked down at it, watching my black-tipped fingers run across the fabric. I muttered, "You really shouldn't wear this..." Kakuzu didn't take his eyes off of my hands.

"You said that before."

"I only repeat things that are worth repeating." He raised his eyebrows and met my eyes. His shaggy black hair fell over his eyes, and he hastily brushed it away.

I clutched onto the mask and he wondered aloud, "Why am I your favourite?" I was about to answer when Kisame opened the door and made it across the room to us in about three long strides. He murmured something to Kakuzu, making Kakuzu nod and stand up. He looked at me with what looked like sadness.

"You must go home... Your mother is on her way to your house." I nod, eyes still locked with his, showing him that (if he IS sad that I have to go) I wish that I didn't have to go either. I tear my eyes away from Kakuzu's and look at Kisame. He takes out a scroll and summons a portal. He hands me another scroll.

"If you open this it will bring you to our world. You'll use this to travel to our world until you can manage your chakra and create portals yourself." I nod, take the scroll and jump into the portal.


	10. Chapter 9: Aftermath

**Chapter IX - Aftermath**

HOME

After only a few seconds, I find myself in my art room. I open the door that leads to my room and felt myself feeling tired all of a sudden. Kakuzu's mask was still clutched in my hand, and Hidan's rosary was still around my neck.

_Now I have two souvenirs..._ I lay down on my bed and cuddled up to Kakuzu's mask, inhaling his wonderful scent, and thought about today.

_Well, did you and your escort have fun?_ I jumped a little, realizing that it was only Zetsu's melodic voice in my head. I mentally nodded, and he chuckled.

_He came out without his mask; you really fancy taking things from us, don't you?_ I shook my head.

_It's not my fault that you all press gifts upon me_. I said with what was possibly a hint of sarcasm. I felt Zetsu smile, making me do the same.

_Aren't you sleepy after everything that's happened today?_ He inquired, and I mentally shook my head.

_Even if I was, I'm insomniac, so I can't do anything about it._ He was quiet for a few seconds, then murmured, _Kakuzu said that your skin was icy... like death. Is it, or...?_ Mental nod on my part.

_I guess so. You know what they say: cold hands, cold heart._ Zetsu raised an eyebrow. _Oh, that would explain a lot among the Akatsuki..._ He chuckled, and I smiled. _But Kisame was warm, and Kakuzu was almost abnormally warm..._ Zetsu chuckled.

_Maybe you just warm us up, then._ I blushed, and I heard Zetsu mutter now my hands are warm... I giggled softly, making him smile. _Anyway, back to your insomnia. What if your problem is that you fear sleep, because that's when you're most vulnerable?_ I took that in. Zetsu was quiet for a few moments, and then I felt multiple presences as his voice returned.

_We will watch over you, Ivy. You don't need to fear. We'll keep your demons away, I promise._ I felt every member of the Akatsuki nod in agreement.

A majority of them were only silhouettes to me; the only ones that were clear to me were Kisame, Pein and Kakuzu. I figured that it was because of the fact that I haven't "seen" the others. But I could hear their voices, all of them confident and strong. I sighed, and wished that I was like them, and I had no weaknesses.

_Even the greatest people have a weakness, Ivy._ I nodded, listening to Itachi's words.

_I just wish that I wasn't so... human. Frail, weak... I want to be powerful!_ Itachi shook his head.

_You are what you make yourself. And power is to have the ability not to have to please, Ivy._ Those were powerful words to me. I liked that. I thought about how I'm constantly being teased at school, and how I didn't really care about what they thought, because I was dressing and acting the way I wanted to, and that was what mattered.

_Do not fear people's judgments of you, or base your intentions thereon. That's what Mahatma Gandhi says, un._ I smiled, surprised that Deidara had picked up on what I thought was my concealed thoughts.

_Sorry about that drawing earlier, Dei-kun..._ Deidara waved his hand, as if saying that it wasn't a big deal, then chuckled.

_No big deal, Vivi-chan._ I liked that he didn't mind pet names. I sighed and scratched my head.

_What're you thinking about, un?_ I shook my head, still sort of spacing out. I realized that I'd had my RAYBANS on all day, even while meeting with Pein and Kakuzu. I sighed in frustration. I wore them all the time, so I had to try to take them off; they were like a part of me.

Waves of exhaustion suddenly started hitting me, and I mumbled tiredly, _What do you think you're doing, Itachi...?!_ Itachi blinked.

_You need rest, Ivy. Do not resist my genjutsu; it's for the best_. Just before I floated into oblivion, I heard Pein's voice.

_We will watch over you, Ivy-san. I promise._


	11. Chapter 10: Beauty

**BOOK II**

**.KAKUZU.**

"**Curse of Curves"**

**Chapter X - Beauty**

HOME (?)

I don't really consider myself having a home, but I suppose the Akatsuki base is close enough. My teammates aren't what you'd call friends, but they're all I have.

Until now.

At about 7:40 AM, Pein called all of us into his office, and showed us an image of a girl. She was about 5'7", dark chocolate hair that went just under her breasts, and eyes that were blocked by ridiculous looking sunglasses. She wasn't fat, but she wasn't skinny...

"Damn, she's pretty cute! She's got nice tits, seriously!" Fortunately, I had my mask on, so no one could see me blush. As much as I hated to admit it, Hidan was right. She had to be at least a D... I mentally punched myself.

"Aww, she has some chub on her, un! Kawaii desu ne!! Adorable!!"

"Fuck, Kakuzu and Sasori are damn lucky that they're fucking doctors! You can touch her and say, 'It's okay, I'm a doctor.' Seriously!!" Heat rose to Sasori's cheeks and he slapped his forehead in disgust. Deidara giggled, looking at her stomach, thighs and behind. Itachi rolled his eyes, and Kisame smiled and shook his head.

I knew that Pein didn't call us in here just to _watch_ this girl, so I asked, "Pein-sama, what is this girl's relevance to Akatsuki?" Pein's expression darkened.

"In 10 minutes, this girl will be shot and killed. We have to keep that from happening." Pein glanced at all of us for an instant, observing the confusion in our faces.

"Though she is young, she is slowly developing telekinetic powers; she would make everything easier for this organization. If you make an attempt to mentally contact her, she will receive the message, and the two of you will be able to converse mentally. One of you has to save her from death first, though; if one of you can give her something of yours, then it makes it easier for her to sense your auras, so keep that in mind."

We all nod, and Hidan speaks up. "I'll save her ass, it's not like guns can fuckin' hurt me!" I rolled my eyes. _He's so irritating..._ But he _was_ the man for the job: Hidan can't die, so this mission wasn't going to be particularly difficult for him. A pang of jealousy spread through my veins.

_Why does HE get to go? I wanna save her...!_ I mentally slapped myself. This girl probably doesn't know that we exist anyway, and when she sees us, she's going to scream and run away, and they're gonna put her in a nuthouse.

Then I saw something sticking out of her bag. It looked like a book, and I caught a glimpse of the cover. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. The cover of the book had Hidan and I on it. What was that about? As if reading my thoughts, Pein spoke again.

"In her world, we are fictional characters in an anime and manga series known as _Naruto_. And this little one is quite the fan of us. She knows everything there is to know about our powers, and in some cases, our pasts." All of us exchanged glances, and Pein looked back to the projection of the girl, then to Hidan.

"You should go. Make sure that no one sees you, and that you leave something of yours behind." Hidan waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm taking of this jacket though, it's fucking driving me crazy!" Pein rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Hidan shrugged off his jacket, and disappeared. Sure enough, a man ran into her classroom and pointed a gun to her.

Her expression was painful to watch; her eyes widened, her body shrunk up in fear... it brought my heart to beat irregularly and my stomach to twist up in knots (like when I first saw her), but this time, there was a foul taste in my mouth, rather than a nice one (like when I first saw her).

_Hidan had better not screw this up..._ As the shot was fired, I felt myself tense up. I mentally slapped myself again. _What the Hell is making you do this?! Snap out of it, Kakuzu!_ But, thankfully, Hidan had made it just in time and killed the man, and placed his Jashin rosary around the girl's neck.

I scowled, overflowing with jealously. He got to touch her pale neck with his fingertips, he got to inhale her perfume, and maybe he even got to see her eyes... I growled in frustration with myself. After a few minutes, Hidan returned.

"See? Told you it'd be no big fucking deal!" He smirked and showed off the gaping hole in his chest from the gunshot.

"I got to see her close up!" He sang over to Deidara and whispered in his ear (but loud enough so everyone could hear), "And she has _huge_ tits!" Deidara pumped his fist in the air.

"Since we can't have Konan-san, she's the next best thing, un!" You saw Pein tense up and scowl at the mention of Konan, especially since the context in which she was mentioned in was perverse.

"Try to connect mentally with her throughout the day, okay?" He muttered, his irritation at the Konan comment threatening to show itself. We all nodded and headed back to our rooms.

I could feel the others talking to her through the bond, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything to her. Instead, I just looked at the world through her eyes. I noticed a number of things about her that made my stomach tie itself up in knots (like when I first saw her):

1. She has a skip to her step as she walked, which causes her shiny hair (and other things) to slightly bounce with every step she takes.

2. When she gets nervous, she runs her fingers along the bottom seam of her shirt/jacket.

3. She writes in all capital letters and tends to connect all of them when she writes in a hurry.

4. She scratches her head when she's in thought, and it messes up her hair (for some reason, it looks better messy...).

5. She chews her bottom lip a lot (That explains her semi-scabby lips).

6. She wears fishnet (ninjas wear fishnet; why does it look so good on her?).

7. She is constantly brushing the hair out of her eyes (I have to do that all the time; how come it's cute when she does it?).

8. She loves to read.

9. She's artistic (Why is the chibi of her hugging me?).

10. She wears a lot of eyeliner.

11. She dresses in all black (again, why so appealing?).

12. The back pockets of her pants have little bats on them (not that I was looking).

Oh, I could go on for hours. But why could I do that? She's just... _So beautiful!_ She's just a regular _extraordinary girl!_ I scowled in frustration. Why was this happening? And _what_, in God's name, was it? I decided to take a nap, just to clear my mind for a while.

I was woken up when Deidara knocked on my door and said that Pein-sama needed to meet with me. I roll out of bed, splash some water on my face, put my mask on, and walked to Pein's office doors. I opened them, and a syringe and a bottle of pills were thrown to me, and I figured that it might be a new member. I heard Pein snicker.

"You and your escort have fun, Ivy-san." My jaw dropped as the young woman that we had been conversing with all day walked up to me nervously, a soft blush caressing her pale cheeks. I turned and walked out of the room towards the medical ward, and she followed close behind me. I noticed that I was walking sort of fast, so I slowed down so she could walk with me, as opposed to behind me.

I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, and she couldn't stop staring at me either. I saw her eyes wandering over my skin; she was staring intently at my muscular arms.

She walked beside me, so close to me that I could feel the goose bumps that she had on her arms. As we finally reached the medical ward, I opened the door and stepped aside so that she could enter first. That was something new. Was that reflexes?


	12. Chapter 11: Skepticism

**Chapter XI - Skepticism**

MEDICAL WARD

She entered the room and looked around nervously. She was a black star in the white room. I sat down at a small table, readying the needle and watching her look around the room, those stupid sunglasses still on. I sighed quietly, looking up from the needle; she was sitting at the desk, a few feet across from me. How did she do that? She's like a ghost... Sitting this close to her made me want to look at her even more. I noticed her lipstick was actually dark purple, not black.

The smell of her breath was sweet, and when she moved the hair out of her eyes, the aroma of her shampoo drifted my way. I was amazed that everything seemed to compliment her original scent; it seemed so right. I sighed quietly, and I heard her murmur "So, about that needle..." I wanted to comfort her, to promise her that she wouldn't feel a thing, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.

So, instead, I _did_ something.

I took her small wrist in my hands and measured her pulse. The soft flesh of her arm was so pale that I could see the veins in her wrist clearly. Her pulse was racing; from fear, no doubt. I looked up at her in confusion, being sure to mask the hurt in my voice, and then muttered, "Am I that scary?"

She blushed wildly, but said nothing, just shook her head. A sudden burst of curiosity and courage ran through me. I desperately wanted to hear her voice again; this whole time, she hasn't spoken louder than a murmur. _C'mon, say something...!_ I silently urged.

Desire took over me and, still measuring her pulse, I gently placed my hand over hers. I was amazed (for about the millionth time today) at how perfectly her hand fit into mine. Her face turned an even darker shade of crimson, and she blurted out, "Why do you wear a mask?!"

_For the safety of your eyes._ I thought about saying, but held my tongue. Instead, I replied with caution, "Why not?"

"Because you look better without it!" I was shocked, and I wasn't able to keep it out of my features this time. Seeing my reaction caused her to look down at the floor out of embarrassment and I released her hand. I wanted to comfort her in some way, but I was unsure as to how I would come about it.

The desire to comfort someone was completely new to me, so how would I know what to do in a situation like this? Since my heart has been trying very hard to replace my brain as of late, I let it take control of the situation. I hesitated for a moment, then found myself seizing her other hand and placing it under my mask. I grasped the syringe in my free hand, making sure that she didn't notice, and then swiftly injected the liquid chakra into her bloodstream, gently placing a band-aid over it. To my surprise, she was oblivious.

I found myself making her fingers graze my cheek (why is my cheek so warm?) and she played with my hair for an instant (which was torturous) , then I made her pull my mask off, close her fingers around it, and slowly put her hand back down on the table, then stood up to throw the syringe away. She looked confused, and I saw that she took notice of her bandaged arm, and looked at me in shock.

"How did you do that?" She wondered. Man, her voice was beautiful... I just wanted to close my eyes and listen to it, like one listens to music. Instead of confessing that to her, I raised an eyebrow and simply said,

"You're easily distracted." She blushed, looking down at my mask in her hands. She ran her fingers along the seams of the fabric, as though she's never touched anything like it before.

She murmured quietly, "You really shouldn't wear this..."

"You said that before." I stated blatantly as I watched her hands moving gracefully around the fabric.

"I only repeat things worth repeating." I raised my eyebrows. _Huh, how witty. What makes her so fascinating to me?_ I wondered. As I looked at her, some of my stupid hair fell in front of my eyes, and I hastily brushed it out of the way.

My eyes met her sunglasses, and I finally asked, "Why am I your favourite?" She was about to answer when Kisame came through the door (damn him). He strode up to me and told me that it was time for the little one to go.

My heart sank, and started hurting, as though it was being torn in two. I looked at her, not bothering to disguise the pain in my eyes, and told her that it was time for her to return home. Her form slouched slightly, as though feeling the same way that I did. She nodded, and looked to Kisame.

Kisame took out a scroll and opened a portal for her, and told her that if she needed anything, to use another scroll that he hadn't opened as a portal until she got more powerful. She nodded, put the unopened scroll in her back pocket, and jumped through the gate that Kisame opened.

Kisame turned to me and smiled. "You gave her your mask?" My eyes widened, and I cursed under my breath.

"I forgot to get it back from her..." Kisame chuckled, which annoyed me.

"Don't worry, she'll be back tomorrow, I'm sure of it." I sighed, slightly frustrated. Kisame seemed to take the hint, and walked out of the medical ward, leaving me alone. I walked back to my room, walking past Zetsu and Itachi watching TV in the living room, Kisame sitting down to join them. They were staring at the TV boredly until they noticed me, and I cursed in my head; I really didn't feel like talking to them right now.

"So, how was it?" Itachi asked, not taking his charcoal eyes off of the TV (he looks a lot less threatening with his Sharingan deactivated). I shrugged.

"It was okay, I guess. I just gave her the needle, and then she stole my mask, and left." Zetsu chuckled.

"Really? Huh, part of me was expecting something exciting to happen..."

"She has cold hands. They're like death." I said bluntly. With that, I left the three of them alone and walked to my room, shutting the door. I sighed and lay in my bed, thinking about today.

Thinking about her.

Thinking about how soft her skin was, yet how icy it was to the touch. I thought about how good it felt against my warm cheek, and how lovely it was when her fingers tangled in my hair. I thought about how perfectly her hand fit into mine, and _how badly I wanted to be with her._

I didn't know what this feeling of wanting was, but it made me feel sort of good. I liked the adrenaline rush that I felt when she looked at me, or touched me. I liked the way that my insides would knot up when I see her.

_Stop thinking about it. Snap out of it!_ I tried talking myself out of completely adoring her, but it was impossible. My heart loved her- everything about her. Since I couldn't get my mind off of her, I decided to try and mentally contact her. There was blackness, and I started to worry.

_Didn't she say that she was insomniac?! What happened?_ The ring of my cell phone went off, indicating that I had a text-message. I grabbed my _Blackberry_ off of my nightstand and opened the message. It was Pein telling me that Itachi had cast a genjutsu on her so that she could sleep.

"Well, at least you're good for something..." I muttered, thinking about Itachi. I sighed, thinking about what she looked like when she slept. I mentally decked myself, but my heart had to know. _It's not bad if you don't get caught,_ my heart whispered to me.

No, I was going for my mask, then I will come right back. I grabbed a scroll, created a portal and jumped though it before I could change my mind.


	13. Chapter 12: Torment

**Chapter XII - Torment**

IVY'S ROOM

I expected that she would have awakened at the sound of the door to her art room opening, but she didn't move an inch. I silently cleared her room in two or three steps as I strode up to her bedside (Author's note: Kakuzu is a little taller than Kisame in this story; by about an inch. Both have really long legs and are really fast).

Her hair was extremely messed up, her eyeliner smudged around her face. She lay on her back, with one arm tucked behind her head, and the other resting over her chest. She looked like she was protecting herself; guarding herself from something.

God was she beautiful. I couldn't think of anything that was more beautiful. Her lips were slightly parted, indicating that she was in a deep sleep. I noticed that there was something in her hand.

My mask. She was sleeping with my mask.

My mask was clutched in her hand, the metal headband slightly touching her bottom lip. She was breathing evenly, slowly. She looked so fragile, so human. Strands of her espresso hair cascaded over her chest and over my mask. I had never wanted to be an inanimate object as badly as I did right now.

I wanted her to breathe on me, to hold me in her arms. Subconsciously, I traced her jaw-line with my fingertips, feeling her soft flesh under my fingers. My fingers traced down her neck and to her collarbone, then tangled themselves in her hair, cradling her head. She shifted, and I froze. My body tensed up, but didn't move. She sighed.

"Kakuzu..." she moaned softly. My eyes widened as she buried her warm cheek into my hand. She turned on her side and rested her hand on my wrist. She pulled my arm to her, and smiled softly in her slumber.

I stared at her and sighed, perfectly content for the first time in a long time. She stirred again, her grip in my arm tightening. She started whimpering softly. Waves of concern washed over me as I watched her stress over something in her sleep.

"H-help me... Kakuzu..." It pained me to watch this continue. I had to do SOMETHING. I was unsure of what to do, and before I knew what was happening, I was reciting a poem for her, which made me want to cut my tongue out.

"Do not fear, for I am here, and I love you, my dear, close your eyes and sleep tight, for tomorrow will be bright, all is well, my love, good night."

What a ludicrous situation- whispering poems into a young woman's ear in an attempt to soothe her. Pathetic. Utterly pathetic.

At the sound of my voice, she visibly relaxed, then she smiled again and murmured, "You're a poet?"

My eyes widened, and my heart started racing. A soft blush caressed her pale cheeks. _She still looks asleep! Itachi put her under a genjutsu, so she shouldn't wake up until Itachi releases the jutsu..._

"You're perfect, 'Kuzu-kun..." She laced her fingers with mine and my heart did back flips like they had never done before. My heart was overflowing with joy. _Did you hear that?! She loves you; she loves you!_ Did she even mean what she said? No, shut up, heart. She's dreaming! How could she possibly...?

I stroked her hair rhythmically, feeling her soft locks under my fingers. I was torturing myself. I twirled my fingers around in her chestnut hair. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, taking in her wonderful scent.

I had no idea what time it was, but I quickly jumped up when I heard a beeping sound coming from her alarm clock. She stirred, and I assumed Itachi had released the genjutsu. I fled back through the door to her art room and back to my room in my world. I silently cursed.

"Damnit, I forgot my mask."


	14. Chapter 13: Water

**Chapter XIII – Water**

MORNING

No briefing today. No missions today.

The _one_ time I need to do something to keep my mind off of something, there are no missions.

I spent most of my morning feeling angry at myself for actually falling for the stupid girl. No, she's not stupid. She's amazing.

The only thing that's stupid around here is the fact that I have spoken with this girl once and I can say (but I refuse to) that I am falling in love with her.

After many pitiful attempts to shut my feelings for her out of my mind, I gave up. Getting out of bed, I went to my bathroom and decided to take a shower.

The water felt good on my skin; if I thought about the water, then I wouldn't think about her. I thought about the water beating down on my skin, my ugly, messed up skin.

Surely she had no idea just how ugly I really was. If she knew, then she would not come within a one-hundred mile radius of me and my flesh. But she urged me to take off my mask, and blushed when she saw my face… none of it makes any sense to me.

Even if I had normal skin, I'd still be unlikeable. The only thing that I care about is money (until now, unfortunately). I don't make any plans to change my belief that money is everything, because lovers will die.

Neither money nor myself will.

I have a temper, which, you would too if your teammate was an obnoxious immortal who does nothing but yell about his religion all the time. He's so selfish, it's disgusting. How am I supposed to collect my bounties when he tries to sacrifice them to Jashin all the time?

I fail to understand how she could pick me when she could have Deidara or Sasori or Hidan or Itachi. They're no worse than I am, really. And they're all gorgeous. It isn't a matter of opinion, it is a fact. Any woman who has ever seen any of the above men can't help but be charmed by their fairness.

But not Ivy. Not my Ivy.

Water, water, water.

Ivy, Ivy, Ivy.

If I closed my eyes, I could feel her soft fingertips against my cheeks. If I tried really hard, I could picture her fingers laced in my hair. If I wished enough, I could hear her soft voice telling me that she loved me too.

If I pictured her fingertips as the drops of water…

I turned the water from steaming how to ice cold, the sudden temperature change forcing a shudder to rip through my muscles. I enjoyed it though. I desperately tried to focus on the water.

Water.

Ivy.

Kakuzu's ugly body.

Kakuzu's ugly body in the water.

Alone.

Ivy and Kakuzu's ugly body in the water.

Together.

The latter was so much more appealing.

I turned off the shower and got dressed, running a towel through my mop of hair. Stepping back into my room, I looked around. Ivy's room looked like it belonged to someone. Mine did not. My room was plain and empty-looking. Hers was not.

I focused my mind on finding her mind, and stopped myself.

Why bother? I made a promise to myself, and here it is:

Never, under any circumstance, contact the girl.

And I don't break promises.


	15. Chapter 14: Distraction

**BOOK III**

**.IVY.**

"**Are You Perspiring?"**

**Chapter XIV – Distraction**

I awoke from the genjutsu with a frown on my face. I glared at my alarm clock and silenced its obnoxious beeping sounds. I looked at the clock.

Friday, 4:30 AM.

I slid out of bed and sighed, scratching my messy head of hair. _Good mourning, sleepy head! _Zetsu cooed. I mentally frowned at him.

_Damn Uchiha Itachi to the fiery bowels of Hell._ I heard Zetsu snicker.

_I'll tell him you send him your love._ I trudged over to my closet and leafed through the hangers.

_Fuck, your room is huge!-_ _God, it is, un!_ I rolled my eyes, not stopping to think about whom I was rolling my eyes to. I saw Hidan's silhouette shake its fist at me.

_Don't roll your fucking eyes at me, bitch! I was the one that saved your ass!_ I sighed and shook my head.

_I'm not awake enough to deal with you yet, sweetie._ I saw Deidara gasp.

_I thought I was the only one with a pet name, un!_ I smiled.

_Don't worry, Dei-kun. It was a one-time thing._ I saw him smile in satisfaction. I was happy to discover that one of my favorite shirts was clean: it was a simple black v-neck, slim-fitted t-shirt with a picture of a MAD! BARBARIAN Hello Kitty sticking up her middle finger.

I heard Hidan snicker, _I like your fashion sense!_ Zetsu and Deidara got a laugh out of it as well.

_That's one tough kitten, un!_ I blushed, though I don't know what triggered it. Hidan, Deidara and Zetsu got quiet, and I wondered why, until I felt a new presence. And saw a familiar face.

_Ohaiyo, Pein-sama..._ You felt him give a brisk nod.

_Same to you, Ivy-san. How did you sleep?_ My foul mood instantly returned.

_Good. Though Itachi is officially on my hit-list._ I heard Pein give a raspy chuckle.

_Still not awake, princess Pein-fucking-sama? _

_Shut up, Hidan._ Pein growled. That was how I pictured Pein: cold, rigid. But you can't judge a book by its cover. I yawned lazily and scratched my head. I started to undress, but realized that there were possibly nine men watching me. I blushed and bit my lip in thought.

_Hey, why'd you stop? It's okay, un. No need to be shy, Vivi-chan._ Deidara snickered. I lowered my head in embarrassment. It's not like going in the bathroom would help. They're in my head, for Christ's sake.

I silently wished for help, when thank God, Kisame entered the bond. He sensed my distress and told the others to leave. Zetsu and Pein left without a problem (at least they respected a woman's wishes), and Hidan and Deidara hesitantly left after Kisame threatened them.

_You have to leave too, Kisame! I guess peep shows are reserved for Kakuzu!_ Hidan shouted as he walked away. I shrank; it was humiliating. Kisame knew that had hurt me, and he looked at me with concern after shooting a death glare at Hidan. He smiled a pearly-white smile.

_Forget him, child. He's just trying to get to you._

_Well it's working. Job well done. _Kisame said a few more comforting words to me which (as much as I hated to admit it), calmed me down. He promised to keep Hidan and Deidara at bay, and left me alone to get dressed.

I got dressed quickly and "opened" my mind again. Pein was the first to greet me. _Good, I was hoping you'd be able to figure out how to open and close bonds. If you ever don't want to converse with a specific person..._ He paused, and a picture of Hidan came to both of our minds. Pein continued.

_You can break the link between the two of you. Remember, if you close your mind, no one can talk to you. The only reason we are able to talk to you now is because your mind is "open". Do you understand, Ivy-san?_ I nod; everything is a lot clearer now.

_Arigato, Pein-sama!_ He nodded and vanished from my mind. It's not that I wanted to block people out, I wanted to contact Kakuzu. The dream I had last night replayed in my head as I downed one of those chakra pills with a glass of tea.


	16. Chapter 15: Wishful Dreaming

**Chapter XV – Wishful Dreaming**

DREAM

It was another falling dream. I fell through the abyss for a good twenty minutes, and then there were obstacles- sharp rocks, etc- in my way, and no matter how hard I tried to avoid them, I kept hitting them.

It was grueling.

I landed flat smack on my back a few times, and banged my head quite a few times as well. I actually got to the end of the abyss that I was falling from, and landed on cold, wet concrete, knocking the wind out of me. I looked up and saw Kakuzu a few yards away.

"Kakuzu..." I whimpered. I didn't expect him to hear me, but he turned around and was at my side in a flash. He looked me over worriedly, gently picked me up bridal-style, and brought me out of the pouring rain and into his room.

He laid me down on his bed and sat at its edge, taking his mask off and handing it to me. I clutched it in my hands, and rested the cool metal part on my bottom lip. I closed my eyes and sighed happily; I heard him laugh softly.

I felt his warm fingers caressing my cheek, tracing my jaw-line, and down my neck. I absentmindedly craned my neck for him. Suddenly, I felt his warm breath on my neck, and his soft skin against mine.

I stroked his hair slowly, rhythmically, and he growled happily in response. I buried my face in his hair, and I felt him sigh into my skin.

I suddenly felt a slight twinge of pain from one of my earlier injuries. Kakuzu sat up straight, laced his fingers in my hair, holding the back of my head gently, and whispered soothingly,

"Do not fear, for I am here, and I love you, my dear. Close your eyes and sleep tight, for tomorrow will be bright. All is well, my love, good night."

I smiled and blushed, holding his arm, I giggled softly, "I didn't know you were a poet." He tensed up from embarrassment and looked away. I smiled and pulled his head back into the crook of my neck.

"You're perfect, 'Kuzu-kun," I whispered, stroking his soft black hair. I looked up at him, and saw him smile warmly. He shook his head.

"YOU are the perfect one, Ivy. I love you." My eyes widened for a brief moment, and then closed as his lips softly brushed against my bottom lip.

That was when I woke up. I needed to talk to Kakuzu, damnit! I finished getting ready for the day and headed to school.


	17. Chapter 16: Contact

**Chapter XVI- Contact**

WALKING

I left early so that I could stop by the doughnut shop. I had forgotten my lunch and was too far away from my house to go back and get it, so the doughnut shop was my only choice, since most restaurants weren't open at seven in the morning. I walked into the small shop, the overwhelming scent of doughnuts filling my nostrils.

{Damn, what smells so good?} You heard Hidan wonder.

{Tobi smells yummies!} I smiled to myself as I heard Tobi's voice. I ordered a dozen doughnut holes and six regular doughnuts.

{Ugh, now I'm hungry…} I heard Zetsu murmur.

{Sorry guys, I didn't mean to make you hungry!}

{Don't worry about it Ivy-san. If they want to eat, they have things here.} Pein reassured.

{Yeah, but nothing we have smells that good, un!}

{Akatsuki food is smelly! Tobi wants Vivi-chan's foods!} I laughed softly, and the cashier gave me a strange look.

"I'm listening to a comedian." I said, quickly coming up with an excuse as to why I am laughing at nothing. The old woman laughed as well and told me that since I had purchased so many pastries I could take a free milk, so I happily obliged, and thanked her.

Walking out of the shop, I looked at my cell phone. I heard Pein snicker. {What?} I inquired, and he nodded his head at my cell-phone charm: an Akatsuki cloud. He raised his eyebrow, knowing I was going to try and make something up to cover myself.

I laughed a little. {Oh, this? Awesome, huh? You should be proud, Pein-sama. Shameless advertising.} He chuckled and shook his head.

{Where does one get such things?} Pein wondered.

{At anime-cons and stuff. Conventions.} He nodded in understanding, and I gripped my cell phone tighter as I felt it vibrate. I waited for the vibration to cease, then opened my phone.

It was a picture message from one of my friends; she wasn't a close friend, but she wasn't an enemy either. It was a picture of her in a neon blue feathered dress.

I unconsciously said "Ew…" aloud. It was a hideous dress. And as much as I dreaded it, she asked for my opinion. As I thought about what I should say, I felt Zetsu looking at the picture as well, and giving the same reaction.

{Looks like a mutant bird something died on her or something, un. It's gross looking.} I saw Zetsu look at the dress and watched him make a disgusted face.

{Well, if you wanna be blunt about it….} Zetsu murmured, indirectly agreeing with Deidara. I nodded at their comments and texted exactly what Deidara had said.

Pressing the "send" button and closing my phone, I felt a few shocked expressions through the bond. Much to my dismay, Kakuzu was still not there.

{You sent her what I said?! But it's so mean, un! Don't you feel guilty?} I shrugged.

{She wanted my opinion, didn't she? So I gave it.} Zetsu shrugged.

{Hm, I suppose we assumed you'd be nicer about it…}

{Nah. I'm not a very nice person.} Hidan scoffed.

{So you'll tell your friend that she has a shitty fashion sense, but you won't tell Kakuzu that you wanna fuck him?} My face turned as red as… I don't know what.

Hidan was laughing hysterically. {I don't even see you denying this! You're such a-}

{Shut your mouth, Hidan. Now.}

I gasped quietly as I heard the voice that I've been wanting to hear the most.

{O-ohaiyo, Kakuzu-san…} I murmured, biting my lip. Hidan was ignoring Kakuzu (shocker) and I saw his silhouette turn to Kakuzu's visible form, obviously challenging him.

{What, you don't wanna fuck her? I mean, she's kinda pretty I guess, but I'd imagine you have already had your way with her, since no one else would want your stitched-up ass!}

Kakuzu was silent; whether it was out of anger, shock or hurt, I do not know, but he closed his eyes and sighed.

{Just leave her alone, Hidan. I'm sure she has enough to deal with as it is. She does not need you yelling in her ear. It's bad enough that all of us have to tolerate you on a regular basis.}

I felt myself smile and blush. My stupid teenage girl feelings took over my heart momentarily, forcing me to draw conclusions on facts that were nowhere around. Whoever invented hormones sucks.

Stupid teenage girl reasoning:

I. He was listening through the bond, but he had not spoken.

II. Because he was too shy to talk to me.

III. Which shows that he has feelings for me.

IV. Upon hearing Hidan harassing me, he spoke into the bond.

V. He stuck up for me.

VI. And He would only do something like that if he had feelings for me.

VII. Ergo, there is a slight chance that he may have feelings for me too.

So, in conclusion, Kakuzu has feelings for me. But he doesn't, because my logic sucks. Much to my surprise, Hidan left me alone, and I felt everyone else leave the bond as well.

It was just me and Kakuzu now.


	18. Chapter 17: Sarcasm

**Chapter XVII – Sarcasm**

I put a doughnut in my mouth, searching desperately for an excuse not to talk. I felt his presence in my head, and it was only him; no Hidan, no Zetsu, no Pein…

Just me and my Kakuzu.

_Hmph; "Your" Kakuzu?_ I gasped, nearly choking on my doughnut. Damn, I needed to be more careful with my thoughts.

_I-I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I-it's just, it was a-an accident! I-I'm sorry…_ I noticed that he didn't have his mask on, and was sort of surprised by that. I figured it was like in cartoons, where the characters would open up their closet and have a bazillion of the exact same outfit.

I suppose I subconsciously pictured Kakuzu opening his closet and having a mass amount of the exact same mask, because I earned a confused look from him.

_What an unrealistic interpretation of my closet._ He said, with a hint of humor in his voice. I couldn't help but smile. Forgetting who I was talking to, I started to talk to Kakuzu like he was one of my close friends.

_Hey now, back off; Those little pictures in my head help me make my dull life interesting._ He raised his eyebrows at my "Back off" comment, and I realized my mistake.

_God damnit, I did it again! Gah, you must think I'm the biggest bitch in the world… I didn't mean it like that, it's just a-_

_Joke? Yes, I know. Contrary to popular belief, I have a sense of humor._

_Sarcasm is my weapon of choice._

_Ditto._

I smiled, brushing my bangs out of my face with my hand, then putting them in my back pockets to keep them from shaking due to my nervousness. I felt Kakuzu's eyes on me as I did so.

_You talk to the rest of the Akatsuki like it's no big deal, and then whenever I come around, you start shaking and acting stupid. So tell me, is it out of fear?_

I shook my head. _No, I don't fear you. I don't have a reason to. I have trouble talking to you because you are the one that I want to talk to the most… _I murmured, looking down at the ground, though still knowing full-well that his eyes were still on me.

I had the sudden urge to not go to school today. I wanted to see Kakuzu, and talk with him, face to face. His eyes widened as he listened to my thoughts about seeing him and ditching school, and he raised an eyebrow.

_Won't you get in trouble?_ He inquired. I couldn't help but notice that he did not object to the thought of spending time with me.

_Nah. In the beginning of the year, we have to fill out these info cards for the office stating things like our phone number and stuff, and I put my cell phone number as my Mum's cell number, so the school will call me to confirm that I'm not there. Besides, I don't have any tests or anything today._

I saw a hint of a smirk playing on his features. _Smart girl._

_Well, I don't want to appear overconfident, but yes, I like to think I am._ I smirked in my head, then laughed at my faux confidence. I heard Kakuzu chuckle quietly.

_Strange girl._ I rolled my eyes.

_Hm, interesting analysis. Are there any more snap judgments you'd like to make before you get to know me?_

_Who says I want to get to know you?_

_You didn't shoot me down when I indirectly asked you to hang out with me today._ I knew I had got him. He scoffed and narrowed his eyes, and I narrowed mine back.

_Lookie there, I can do that too._ I said, my voice thick with smugness. His lips parted slightly and he raised his eyebrow, as though he was feeling a combination of confusedness and adoration. Again, I knew I hit the nail on the head when he changed the subject.

_I thought you were ditching; you're still walking to school._ I nodded and got out my phone to call Inai. I pressed her speed-dial and she picked up on the fourth ring.

"Ivy? What's up, honey?"

"Hey Inai, are you ditching today? 'Cause I need to take a mental health day. You in?" I could practically picture the smile spread across her bright features.

"Honey, does a bear shit in the woods? Where are you sweetie, I'll pick you up."

"Corner of 6th and Marie. Hm, your car is finally out of the shop?" I heard her scoff and could picture her rolling her eyes.

"Yeah. Does it really take that damn long for a tuneup?" I smiled and shrugged.

"Ugh, responsive as ever, Ivy-chan." I laughed.

"Oh, shut up, bitch. I have cash; wanna go to Denny's or something?" Inai gasped in excitement.

"Oh, you _can_ read minds! Ah, I'll be there in a second baby! Grand-Slam breakfast plate, here comes Inai!" She hung up the phone and I shut mine and slipped it back in my pocket. I mentally panicked for a moment, realizing that my mind was quiet and Kakuzu-less.

_Relax, I'm here._ I heard myself sigh in relief at the sound of his voice. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

_So does this mean that you're going to drag your friend along? Because I can't say I approve of the idea._ I shook my head.

_Nah, she's just my ride. Mum and Dad both head to work at about 8AM, and so I have about an hour to burn. So I'll have breakfast with her and then I'm all yours._ This time, he blushed and blinked a few times, the thoughts that were running through his head unknown to me. I (once again) reminded myself to watch my words around him.

_Won't your mother be concerned that you're not home after school?_

_I'll just tell her that I went over to Inai's house. No biggie._ He shrugged and shook his head. A few moments of silence passed, and I watched him close his eyes and sigh; he ran is fingers through his thick black hair and I couldn't help but stare.

As he performed the simple action, I noticed his muscular arm muscles flex, and as he reached up to his hair, his shirt lifted up slightly, revealing a hint of his beyond well-toned abdominals.

I gnawed on the inside of my lip, a rush of foreign feelings surging through my body. Though there was a variety of feelings in me, there was only one sentence that came to mind, and I felt like an idiot for even thinking it.

_Daymn…_


	19. Chapter 18: Smitten

**Chapter XVIII – Smitten**

As promised, Inai pulled up next to me in her newly-repaired _Volkswagen _convertible. Inai was a senior, so she had her driver's license already. She unlocked the passenger door and I quickly got in, not wanting to draw too much attention to a car with two students in it that's headed in the opposite direction of the school.

I placed my bag next to my legs, opened her glovebox and began looking through Inai's CDs. She glanced over at me and smiled as she got back onto the road.

"You think I have a rotten taste in music, don't you, you little shit." She giggled playfully. I glanced over at her and couldn't help but admire how pretty she was. Her dark brown eyes, curly hair and bright smile made her look incredibly cute and innocent, which is ironic, because she is anything but a saint.

"Well it doesn't help that I can't read what half of it is. It doesn't have enough screaming, that's all." I saw her roll her eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled. I started to wonder if I should tell her about the Akatsuki and what has been going on.

"You'd better not be trashing my Latino music! Don't make me say bad things about you in Spanish again, honey. And pick a damn CD- you're driving me crazy." I laughed and held up two CDs.

"_Sublime_ or _Santana_?" She pursed her lips as she thought for a minute.

"_Santana_. It's too early for _Sublime_." I laughed and gently pushed the CD into the CD drive. The mellow tune of _Black Magic Woman_ flows out of the speakers.

"¿Qué demonios?! ¡Idiota!" She yells at the person in front of us who just cut us off. I can't help but smile when she swears in Spanish.

After a few minutes, we pulled up into the parking lot of the local Denny's. Iani and I went there a lot, but not enough for people to know us by face. She was pretty much a college student, and I _look_ like I'm a college student, so we never get any strange looks from people when we're out-and-about during school hours.

We walk into the bustling restaurant and seat ourselves. A young waiter that looks like he should be in school trots up to your table and does the "look-over" thing that guys do that they think girls aren't aware of. He looks at Inai and smiles widely, then looks at me, and his smile grows. It bothered me; it looked like he slept with a hangar in his mouth. I heard Kakuzu chuckle in my head.

"Wow, what an interesting pair. Miss rebel with Miss AE (Author's note: AE = American Eagle outfitters. It's like Abercrombie and those, but a lot better)! I bet the two of you have a lot in common." He chuckled sarcastically. I mentally sighed. Oh, Lord, I was going to have to put my bitch hat on.

"Wow, you're pretty articulate for a shallow Fitch Bitch." Inai was drinking water as I said this, and she laughed, forcing her to choke on it. The waiter was stunned that I opened my mouth to him at all. I was in control. I didn't break eye-contact with him, proving this.

"But, you all have to be good for something. So you can take our orders now. And if you spit in my food, I'll know and I'll sue you so that you won't be able to wear those wanky clothes anymore." Inai was now trying to hide her laugh, looking from the waiter to me, and back again. Finally, the waiter backed down and took our orders and left. I sighed and drank my iced tea while Inai drank her coffee.

"Jeez, Ivy! You're a hardass!" We both laughed.

"Nah, he was just a bitch." We giggled over the incident for a few more minutes and finally, Inai asked what I had been debating on telling her.

"So has anything happened with the weird rosary thing yet?" I held up the rosary that was still around my neck and shrugged.

"Well, I discovered voices in my head-"

"What?! They… they exist?! In your head!? You can hear them talking to you in your head?!" I rolled my eyes.

"Could the same fact be stated in any more ways? Yes, and they told me I was psychic or something, and now I have to take these pills to get chakra running through my body…."

Inai scratched her head and stared at the rosary. Slowly, a sly grin spread across her features, and I blushed, because I knew what she was going to ask next.

"Have you talked to Kakuzu yet?" She giggled and I blushed, slouching into the booth.

"Y-yeah…" Inai squealed and grabbed my hand.

"You know, I'm not that into _Naruto_, but I was looking up pictures of the Akatsuki last night, those are your favourites, right? They're all _hot_!! No wonder you like 'em!" I turned a dark red, covering my blush up with my hand nonchalantly.

_You're horrible at nonchalance._ Kakuzu observed.

I ignored him and focused on answering Inai.

"W-well, yes, they are all sort of attractive… But that's not the point, Inai…"

"Oh yes it is the point, honey!" A different waitress brought out our food and we both nodded our thanks. Inai took a big bite of her food and pointed her fork at me.

"When are you just going to admit that you're totally smitten for this Kakuzu guy?" I sighed and rubbed my temples as I took a bite of my biscuits and gravy.

"Inai, what the hell are you talking about-"

"Oh, don't lie to me, Kuzu. You are _such_ the smitten-kitten!" I turned dark red, and I was thankful that Kakuzu did not take notice of my nickname. I rolled my eyes at her and shook my head.

"Well, I'm not going to argue, because-"

"Oh! I knew it! Ha!" I sighed and gave up. We moved on to other topics such as school and things, and eventually, both of us were full and ready to go. I looked at my cell phone. 8:30.

Excellent.

We paid for breakfast and got back into Inai's car. She asked me where I wanted to be dropped off at, and I told her that my house would do. After dropping me off and thanking me for breakfast, I unlocked my front door and locked it again, quickly shedding my jacket and running into my room, locking the door. I spent a brief moment with Oliver (because I always do), and put him back in his pen.

_Kakuzu-san…? You ready?_


	20. Chapter 19: Quality Time

07:39

**Chapter XIX – Quality Time**

I sat up on my bed and contacted Kakuzu, hoping that he would still be coming in and out of my head like he had been the past few hours. With no contact from him after a few minutes, I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, ruffling it thoughtfully. Closing my eyes, I hummed softly to myself, swinging my legs off of the side of my bed boredly. I heard a door open and close, and I thought it was my parents coming home. I jumped up to hide, but it was the door to my art room opening. I blushed as Kakuzu laid his eyes on me, one eyebrow raised in amusement at my skiddishness.

"Hm, you scare easily." I scoffed and frowned.

"I do not!" I close my eyes and fold my arms across my chest. When I did not hear anything, I opened my eyes and looked around my room. _What the hell? Where did he go?!_ I started walking around my room, looking for him. I went back to sit on my bed, and when I was almost there, Kakuzu jumped in front of me with unreal speed. He looked into my startled eyes and narrowed his, as though making a point.

"Boo." He said, his deep voice thick with sarcasm. I giggled and shook my head, secretly more aroused than scared.

"You're not scary. You're just fast! Which is annoying, because I am slow." I allowed myself a smile. He sighed and sat in my desk chair while I sat on my bed. The two of us were a few feet away from each other now, but our eyes never left each other's.

"How much do you know about me, Ivy?" My eyes widened as he used my name for the first time. I liked the way he said my name, but I didn't tell him that. I thought for a minute, scratching my head in thought. I couldn't help but watch him watch me.

"Well… I know that you have a total of five hearts: four on your back, each of which represents a different element- Fire, Wind, Water and Earth- and each of the hearts can act independent from your body-"

I was silenced by his hand over my mouth. He was now standing up in front of me, leaning down so that one of his hands were covering my mouth, and the other hand was next to me on the bed. He towered over me, looking down at me.

I never realized how huge he was compared to me.

My eyes widened as I stared into his piercing neon green eyes, and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. He sighed in annoyance, and I shrunk underneath him, feeling bad for annoying him. I turned a dark red as he leaned forward as I leaned back; he was determined to keep eye contact with me.

"That's not what I mean. What do you know about me? About my past? About my personality?" I blinked a few times, unable to form a sentence. His eyes consumed me. Our closeness took over me. How badly I just wanted to lean up and…

"I-I don't… I don't know anything, I swear…! I-I know about Deidara, Sasori, Pein, Konan and Itachi, and that's it!" I said, having to speak up due to his hand muffling my voice. His intense analytical stare scanned over my features, trying to see if I was genuine or not. I assumed he found what he wanted, because his expression softened.

"That's right... you know nothing about me. No one knows anything about me. That's the way it's always been." I looked up into his eyes, and I sighed shakily into the palm of his hand. His facial expressions kept changing, I couldn't get a solid read on what he was feeling. He's gone from Pissed Off to Blank to Pissed Off to Sad, now.

If you had asked me last month about Kakuzu's emotional capacity, I'd have said that it escalates from Irritated to Pissed Off to Seething to I'm Going To Destroy You. I never would have guessed that sadness would be one of them. I decided to break his stare by closing my eyes and sighing again. I gripped my bed blankets in order to keep my hands from shaking. I opened my eyes again and saw that he had grabbed his mask that was still laying on my bed and put it back on, his face hidden from me once again.

I stared into his eyes, and it seemed as though when he put on his mask, he not only hid his face, but his emotions as well. I stared into his now blank eyes, and found my voice again, though it was still muffled by his hand covering it.

"Stop it… please." His eyes widened, and he reluctantly took his hand off of my mouth. I leaned forward, closer to him, and he leaned away. Reaching up, I slid my icy fingers underneath his mask, caressing his warm cheeks and lacing my fingers in his soft hair. I pushed his mask down so that his face was once again revealed to me. His eyes shot over to my hands, glancing from them to my eyes, like a deer in headlights. Yet another emotion I'd never expect to see in him.

Panic. Shock.

I knew that I should stop, but I couldn't bring myself to. He wasn't objecting to it anyway. I laced my fingers in his hair and stroked the back of his neck with my chilled fingers, causing him to shudder slightly. I stared into his eyes and managed to hold his gaze, still trying desperately to read him.

"Stop running from everyone… please, let me in…! No one knows me either, so let's let each other inside, Kakuzu-san! I know you might think I sound stupid, but… I know what it's like to be lonely, and I-" My eyes widened as I noticed that his eyes had left mine and were now staring at my lips. He caught me staring at him and looked into my eyes once more.

"What… what are you staring at…?"

"You." I didn't expect him to be so straightforward.


	21. Chapter 20: Touch

07:39

**Chapter XX – Touch**

"The other day, you asked yourself why anyone would be staring at you." I blinked a few times, shocked that he had noticed that. Stupid me for not closing out my mind. I nodded.

"Yeah, so what? I don't know why anyone would want to stare at me." My voice cracked.

Shit. Weakness.

Everything about this moment was making my head spin. His smell, his hot breath brushing against my skin… I slowly, lightly ran my fingers over the stitches that neatly adorned his cheeks. I thought I saw him struggling against the desire to melt to my touch.

"No one ever stares at me, which is the way I like it. I dress the way I do so that people stay away from me... But, if I want people to go away, then why do I long for-"

"Someone, anyone…" Kakuzu muttered solemnly. I nodded in agreement, my eyes burning into his.

"Friends, family and material things are great, but-"

"But they aren't enough." Allowing myself a smile, I lightly ran my fingers down his neck. I gathered the fabric of the mask in my hands and pulled it off of him, tossing it back onto my bed. He watched me do so intently, and our eyes met again. My smile subsided as I saw him staring at me with a mix of irritation and confusion.

I blinked a few times, and he opened his mouth to speak, but I gently placed my hand over his mouth, preventing him from doing so. A grin made its way onto my features as I looked into his eyes. They were wide with shock at my gesture, and he blinked a few times in confusion. He huffed a breath of hot air into my hand, telling me that he'd hear me out.

"Please, don't wear this mask around me. Not the one that hides your face, and not the one that hides your feelings, either. Besides, you have gorgeous hair. I'm jealous." I giggled and he looked up at his shaggy black locks and then at me and frowned, as though disagreeing. I removed my hand from his mouth and started tracing his cheek stitches once more.

"Does it hurt when I do this? I don't want to hurt you…" I watched my fingertips run across the stitches.

"You couldn't hurt me if you tried."

"I wouldn't ever try."

"So you say."

"So I mean." He narrowed his eyes at me, and I grinned sheepishly. In the corner of my eye, I saw his hand twitch, so I suddenly stopped touching him, in fear that he was going to break my wrist or just take my hand off all together. He looked into my eyes; he was wearing the Sad face again.

"Why did you stop?" I turned a dark red and murmured,

"W-well, your hand was twitching, and I thought that you wanted me to stop…" He looked down at his hand, as though shooting it a glare.

"I assure you, I did not want you to stop." My eyes widened, and his did as well, as though he was as surprised by his statement as I was. I wanted to touch him, but my hand felt like lead. He watched me mentally debate over what do to, and I was unsure what he was thinking.

His eyes left mine and looked down at my hand, and I watched him stare at it for a few moments before he extended his arm out, reaching for my hand. His fingertips brushed against the back of my hand, as though my skin might crack if he touched me any harder. I watched him with wonder as he touched my hand. He seemed fascinated with it. His eyes were slightly wide, and he was focused on stroking my hand.

He took my hand in his, just like when we first met, and measured my pulse again. Naturally, my heart was beating so fast that I thought I was going to have a heart attack. He did not look away from my hand when he murmured,

"If you're not scared, then what is it?" I knew. I knew what it was, but I wasn't going to tell him. There's no way I could.

_It is love._


End file.
